Forgiveness

I recently heard Andy Stanley speak on the importance of moral authority for leadership.

Moral authority = alignment between creed and deed; what we say and what we do; our belief and our action.

Andy mentioned there are three areas we must have alignment in order to earn moral authority:

• Family -prioritize your family; someone else can do your job, no one else can parent your children
  
• Finances - give, save, live on the rest; leaders set the example in this
  
• Forgiveness - don't carry in to the future the hurt of the past; there is no excuse for bitterness, because our message is the message of forgiveness

All of these have challenged me at different times, but what struck me most was the importance of forgiveness. Our message of love and hope won't have validity if we can't forgive those who have hurt us. I have often said, "revenge is natural, forgiveness only happens in the supernatural." When someone wrongs me, I want them to pay for the pain they caused me. I somehow feel justified in holding a grudge. God calls us to a different standard.

In life, I have been hurt. It would be impossible to live and not be hurt. What we do with that hurt is our choice - we can nurture it, coddle it, hold on to it OR we can forgive and move on. forgiveness is difficult. it is required of us as Christians regardless of whether the other apologizes or not.

There was a point in my life when I was feeding a wounded heart. I had been wronged and wanted an apology that was never going to come. I asked God what he expected of me and he answered, but not in a way I was expecting. He led me to Micah 6:8 -

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Mercy? At that point in my life I did not love mercy. I was rather fond of justice; justice seemed balanced and fair, getting what was deserved. Then God showed me another scripture that rocked me to my core. James 2:13 -

...judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

If I expect mercy...and I do because I give myself the benefit of the doubt, that is just human nature, you do it too...then I have to be merciful. Yikes! As a result of what I learned, I offered forgiveness to the one who had hurt me. It wasn't easy, it took time; but it brought incredible freedom. As time went on, I was hurt again, but each time it was easier to forgive. I expect the hurts of life have not ended, I will be hurt again...that's life. I pray that I will continue to choose forgiveness over bitterness.